RE: Why Steem witness @blocktrades continues to sponsor contests
So, can we expect a 2000 SBD contest from @steemcommunity in the not too distant future? That's what I got out of this. :)
Okay, 1000 SBD would probably be okay, too.
I didn't participate, but given the demographic make up of STEEM, such a contest was bound to be popular. So, the posts generated, the upvotes made and the engagement level you highlighted were all good bets based on potential interest.
What's interesting most of all, though, is that it actually moved the meter on the witness votes, and substantially so. There must have been some decent sized SP/MVested accounts involved to cause that increase. Just eyeballing it, and extrapolating from the amount of witness votes you provided after the initial post, the votes moving the meter weren't coming from redfish or minnows. They were probably in the mix to a great degree, but they don't have enough MVests to do what happened.
Which means, if my spitballing is correct, there's either more community minded higher SP out there than what we generally give credit for, or some other reasons exist.
Unlikely to see the prize pool being that big from any witness outside the top 20 i'm afraid!
You are right in that it must have been some med-large accounts adding votes, 500 minnows would have not really made a dent in 4000+ MVESTS.
A fair reasoning, at least one to hope for at least :)